On 5 March, news broadcaster Sky News revealed that Old Mutual had received a multibillion pound offer for its wealth management division. Sky News reported: “The FTSE-100 financial services group Old Mutual is plotting an audacious £9 billion (about R196,535,627,694) break-up which could spark a takeover battle for some of the City's most prominent wealth management operations.”
However, Old Mutual has yet to confirm the report. According to Sky News, Old Mutual is planning to break itself into the following standalone companies: Nedbank, its wealth unit, its emerging markets unit, and its institutional asset management business.
In response to the media speculation, Old Mutual PLC (the company’s head office in London) released the following statement: “Old Mutual PLC (“Old Mutual”) notes the press speculation on Saturday 5 March 2016. When our new Chief Executive Bruce Hemphill joined on 1 November 2015, we announced that we would be conducting a strategic review.
“We can confirm that all options for the strategic review are being considered but no decision has yet been made.”
Further information with regards to any changes in the business will be announced on 11 March when the company is expected to announce its preliminary results for 2015.
Old Mutual did not respond to requests for additional comment at the time of publication.